In the jewelry, garment and adornment fields, in general, and in many other applications it is desirable to provide a hinge between a wire swinging member and a body or other structure. In such cases, the wire can be bent into a hairpin configuration with the legs having inwardly turned feet defining the pintle of the hinge and hence the swinging axis thereof.
Thus, while the present invention will be described in connection with a hair clip or barrette, it should be understood that it is also applicable to other systems wherever a bent wire arm, clip or the like may be swingably connected to another element.
In a barrette or hair clip the "other element" is usually an elongated body, e.g. of synthetic-resin material, of an esthetic or decorous configuration, coloration and/or pattern and is held in place in the hair of the wearer by a hairpin-like arm which is swingably connected at one end to this body on the reverse side thereof. The body may be bowed so that the concavity is spanned by this arm which is concealed by the hair so that only the obverse side of the article is exposed to view.
At the other end of this body, there may be provided a retaining member adapted to be straddled by the legs of the clip-like arm to secure the barrette in place in the hair.
The instant disclosure deals with improvements in the hinge joint for systems of the aforedescribed type.
Where the feet defining the axis of the hinge are bent at right angles to the legs of the arm and are swingably mounted in a hinge-forming fitting in accordance with prior-art principles, it has been found that the two parts, namely, the leg and the support, have the tendency to shift relatively. To avoid this displacement and ultimate separation or dislocation of the hinge, it is common practice to provide the arm with an additional piece shaped to retain the feet in place relative to the support fitting. While this arrangement allowed the hinge to be used effectively, it has the disadvantage that manufacturing costs are increased by the additional piece, the mounting of the added piece increases the number of operations necessary to fabricate the unit, and there is a possibility that the additional piece will be lost and the functioning of the hinge disadvantaged.